Making Strides!

Jack (16 1/2 months now) is making so many strides lately! In the last couple of weeks he has become a full time walker! No more funny knee-walking! No more funny looks from people (at least about Jack's walking. We get funny looks for other things...). No more little soft leather shoes with holes in them... No more holes in every pair of pants he has (Well, almost every pair is worn through because Jack would "knee-walk" everywhere, even on concrete. Crazy baby.) I have to show you what his little shoes look like. They are now retired...Oh, I am sad. I really was hoping Jack would stay a baby forever.

Don't buy the Target Robeez/Bobux knock-offs! I know that Jack is/was tough on shoes, but these only have about 2 weeks of use behind them. The leather is not fully dyed and the paint on the giraffe and the brown of the shoe has just rubbed off. I am so glad that he didn't have these when he used to put shoes in his mouth!

Oh, poor firetruck Robeez! You are missing some wheels and rungs on your ladder! These shoes were worn a little by Jonah but Jack has worn them for months and months and they have been washed a number of times.

I will miss you puppy Bobux most of all! You are holey and stained, but still so cute. Jack wore these shoes, almost daily, for almost 6 months! I love all the Bobux shoes and LOVE that the designs are facing the right way for the babies.

Mike bought Jack his very first pair of walker shoes last Sunday, just like he has for the other kiddos when they started walking. It is always a big deal, becoming a real walker, but for Jack it has been even more exciting, I think because he waited for soooo long. He could walk and took his first steps a couple of months ago, but Jack is smart and cautious and doesn't seem to mind being a bit of a baby either. He walked when HE was ready. Paige kept saying, "Mom, I think Jack will be walking by Halloween, don't you"? I kept saying that I didn't know, but that I would think so. I asked her why this was so important and she replied, "So he can go trick-or-treating Mom"! (Like I was totally ignorant...)

Look at me go!

Like my new shoes?

This post wasn't just supposed to be about Jack's literal strides though. He has made strides in other areas as well. All of the sudden he is trying to talk much more. His words are not very clear, but I understand him when he asks for help (ahmp!) or to nurse (num!). He tries to repeat our words now when we say "Jack say it.". It helps that he has a little cheerleader (Paige, of course) with him most of the time. She is always so proud of his accomplishments.

The third stride is related to the water! I don't remember if I have posted about this or not, but Jack has been afraid of taking a bath for at least 5 months. Jonah was the same way at about 12 months old, so we just showered him with Mike on the weekends and then in a month or so he was taking baths like normal again. Well, like a lot of things, what worked for Jonah did not work for Jack! Every time I put Jack in the tub he would scream and jump out as fast as he could. I couldn't even get him to sit. He would hold himself so rigid! But, here's what changed all that. Jonah and Paige have been in swimming lessons at the Kinderswimmer (We love this place!), but Jonah was just getting tired of going to his lessons. He had lost interest and was just not trying anymore... Well, Jonah is three. He needed a break. Anyways, we had already paid for swim classes through the month for Jonah and Paige but I just couldn't imagine dragging Jonah to 5 more lessons. So, we decided to have Jack have lessons in Jonah's place! Jack had his 3rd lesson today (I go in with him.) and he LOVES it. The first day he was nervous and cried a bit, the second day he was just nervous a little, and today, he smiled and was so proud of himself. The best part? Jack now loves taking baths!!! He stayed in the tub for about 45 minutes today and 45 minutes Thursday and he didn't mind me washing his hair. Today he even practiced putting his eyes in the water all by himself! Oh, my big boy!

PS. Jack's eczema is greatly improved too. We have been off of dairy for a while now and last Monday we reintroduced it to see what would happen. Yikes! Poor baby had bad eczema on his cheek and chin and his poor little bottom was red... It is better now, but he still has little bits of eczema here and there. It has never been totally clear, but almost. I suspect he may react the same way with soy, so we'll experiment... Just wanted to let you know.